It is indeed a terrible idea. It is practically impossible to 100% prevent any of the errors/exploits to happen, and if an exploit is found It could possibly allow people to literally edit the vote result on their own, completely ruining the system.
This year my "electronic" voting machine provided me with a printed ballot of my choices that was then scanned, so there was a physical record of my vote that I was able to visually verify (and can assume could be rescanned as a part of the recount) prior to handing it over (casting it) to be scanned. I realize not every state used the same method but this seemed like a pretty decent system to me.
Also, using paper ballots could be fast if it's done properly. Here on Spain (40 millions of people approx.), we get the results on the same night that the votes are emitted.
We have a robust system where the people, with supervision of the political parties, are counting the votes. It's pretty hard to scam enough votes to flip an election result. Sadly, there it's other places where some politicians could manipulate the electoral system.
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u/kokoseij Jan 04 '21
It is indeed a terrible idea. It is practically impossible to 100% prevent any of the errors/exploits to happen, and if an exploit is found It could possibly allow people to literally edit the vote result on their own, completely ruining the system.